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From Africa Recovery, Vol.17 #4 (Janaury 2004), Briefs page Pan-African Parliament is a step closer In November, Senegal became the 24th member of the African Union (AU) to ratify the protocol establishing the continent's first Pan-African Parliament. By reaching that threshold, the protocol came into legal force. That in turn paves the way for the inaugural session of the body, scheduled for early 2004 at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia . So far no country has yet won the right to host the parliament, but Egypt, Libya and South Africa have all expressed an interest. The parliament will only have consultative and advisory powers during its first five years of operation and serve as a venue for debates on issues affecting the continent. "We are trying to avoid the problems faced by similar parliaments by having this five-year experimental period," said AU spokesman Desmond Orjiako. After that, it is envisioned that the body would evolve into the law-making arm of the AU, modeled on the European Union parliament, with full legislative powers. Every AU member country will provide five members to the parliament, one of whom must be a woman. "Each member state will elect its representatives," said Mr. Orjiako. Immediately after Senegal ratified the protocol, South Africa became the first country to select its five participants, three of whom are women. AU Chairman Alpha Oumar Konaré said the parliament
will promote popular participation and democratic governance.
It is one of 10 key AU organs, including a Central Bank, Court
of Justice and Peace and Security Council. The AU succeeded the
Organization of African Unity and is urging its members to expedite
the creation of the new organs. This article may be freely reproduced, with attribution to
"Africa Recovery, United Nations". Africa Recovery Tel: (212) 963-6857
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